1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method of operating a user equipment, and more particularly to a method of operating a user equipment for providing a measurement report in a UMTS.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) which adopts a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) technology capable of providing high frequency spectrum utilization, universal coverage, and high-speed/quality multimedia data transmission. In the UMTS, a radio access network known as a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) includes multiple base stations (Node-B, NB) for communicating with multiple mobile stations (user equipment, UE).
NBs of the wireless communication system must be deployed properly in order to provide seamless, high quality and large signal coverage without experiencing call drops or signal degradation. However, planning and optimizing the deployment of the NBs are based on signal quality measurements which may be time- and effort-consuming for an operator of the wireless communication system. Common methods of performing the measurements include measuring the signal strength or quality at different time and geographical locations of interest. Therefore, it is more economical for a UE of the wireless communication system to perform the measurements and send the measurement report to an NB. Based on the measurement reports received from multiple UEs, the deployment of the NBs may be planned and optimized accordingly without spending many human and material resources.
In a minimization of drive test (MDT) proposed in current 3GPP specifications associated with UMTS (such as 3GPP TS 25.331), the UE is configured to measure radio channels and report the radio channel measurement information to the NB periodically at an interval, immediately in response to a specific event, or after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the radio channel measurement information has been recorded. The UE sends the measurement report after the completion of channel measurement. The NB may then use the MDT measurement report received from the UE for coverage optimization, mobility optimization, capacity optimization and Quality of Service (QoS) verification. Therefore, there is a need to improve the efficiency of the NB when performing the above-mentioned optimizations or verifications.